Change to Essbase forces auto shutdown of applications after being idle

I noticed a new configuration setting that appeared in the 11.1.2.4.018 Patch Set Update for Essbase, the readme has the following under the defect fixes and documentation update sections:

New Configuration Setting SVRIdleTime

A new setting has been added that will allow an application to auto shutdown after staying idle for n minutes. The syntax of the new configuration setting is

SVRIdleTime n

where is an integer value of 3 to 20160 (in minutes). The feature will be turn off if n is set to 0 (zero) and the default is on and it is set to 15 minutes. (26050466)

So basically once you installed this patch if any Essbase application has been idle for 15 minutes they will automatically shutdown, I can't say I am that impressed with the way this has been forced as on as default, there could be many reasons why you don’t want your applications to shutdown after being idle for 15 minutes so surely it would have been better to have the default as off and then enable it if needed.

Ok, you can change the idle time or disable the functionality by adding the setting to the cfg with a value of zero but it is something you might not be aware of when your system is patched and then suddenly you notice applications shutting down.

Anyway, I have patched Essbase and not added the new cfg setting so let us see if it is definitely being enforced.

[22:04:36 2017]Local/ESSBASE0///6264/Info(1056815)
Essbase 64-bit  - Release 11.1.2 (ESB11.1.2.4.018B016)

Start up everybody’s favourite Sample application and leave idle.

[22:05:03 2017]Local/Sample///6876/Info(1002035)
Starting Essbase Server - Application [Sample]

Wait 15 minutes and check the application log again.

[22:20:14 2017]Local/Sample///8376/Info(1013437)
Unloading application [Sample] after staying idle for 15 minutes

[22:20:14 2017]Local/Sample///8376/Info(1013399)
Canceling current requests.

[22:20:14 2017]Local/Sample///8376/Info(1013207)
RECEIVED SHUTDOWN COMMAND - SERVER TERMINATING

That confirms the new feature is being enforced by default.

Let us see if the default can be changed by adding the setting with a different value than the default.

SVRIdleTime 10

The Sample application was restarted and left idle.

[22:37:06 2017]Local/Sample///11352/Info(1013437)
Unloading application [Sample] after staying idle for 10 minutes

[22:37:06 2017]Local/Sample///11352/Info(1013399)
Canceling current requests.

[22:37:06 2017]Local/Sample///11352/Info(1013207)
RECEIVED SHUTDOWN COMMAND - SERVER TERMINATING

The setting is being picked up and applied correctly, it also confirms that only the application and not the Essbase agent needs restarting after adding or making changes to the setting.

I did check to see if it is possible to define at application level.

SVRIdleTime Sample 5

After restarting the application, the following error was generated in the application log.

[23:02:52 2017]Local/Sample///9256/Warning(1002134)
Invalid or Obsolete Configuration Setting - essbase.cfg(73): "SVRIdleTime Sample 5"

As there is no mention of it in the readme and because an error is being generated it looks like it is not possible to define the idle time at application level.

I also tested the setting with a value of zero and it does look to disable the auto shutdown on idle feature.

SVRIdleTime 0

So something to be aware of if you patch Essbase with 11.1.2.4.018+

Update 20/09/17 - Oracle have seen sense and changed the default idle time from 15 minutes to 120 minutes, the new default will apply from 11.1.2.4.020+ 

"26682267 - The default for the Essbase Configuration Setting SVRIdleTime has been increased from 15 minutes to 120 minutes as some operations would fail due to the system being idle."

Update 18/10/17 - Yet another update, from 11.1.2.4.021+ the default setting have been changed to 0 which means it is off,  looks like it can possibly cause corruption in ASO applications.

"26850650 - In some cases, when using the configuration setting, SVRIDLETIME, can cause an Aggregate Storage Application to become corrupt.  The default setting is now 0, which is off."

Update 11/01/18 - Just when you thought there would no more updates to this setting, now it seems to seems to be have disabled.

"27013042 - SVRIDLETIME has been disabled in Patchset Update 11.1.2.4.022."